Module fun

52nd Street Grab

scene opens in the diner from last episode.
Billy Joel asks “what’s up with the monkey in the pimp suit?”
Nathan Replies “We just came from Studio 54.”
Thomas pipes up " that’s one of the best brothels i’ve ever been in."
“Brothel?” asks Billy.
Nathan Jibes at Thomas, “Only some of us need to pay for it.”
laughs are shared around the table and conversation moves on to more pressing topics.
Billy asks “How long do you think the Protection will last?”
“around the clock for no longer than a week I would guess.” replies Nathan. “we are pretty sure they’ll make a move soon.”
Billy makes a brothel joke and Thomas replies with an odd comment(my notes are lacking the details….anyone remember?) prompting Billy to ask, "Is he always this weird?
Nathan quips, “Historically?….Yes.” knowing laughter passes among the group, Billy and his crew join in.Boom Chaka Laka asks anyone if they want another round of banana shakes. Thomas says yes.
Billy leans in and asks if the monkey is addicted to bananas!
Nathan replies “Naturally”
Billy asks if they plan to take off the monkey suits before we continue to his place. Nathan explains that there was a mix up when they were applying the prosthetics and they used the wrong glue, something called crazy glue instead of rubber cement, so it might be a while before they could get them out of the suits. not to worry, they know their business and are perfectly capable of working in the suits anyway.

The story transitions to Mr Joel’s home in NJ. Mr and Mrs Joel decide to turn in for the night and Thomas takes the first “in room” shift. Drake steps outside to “phone” the Professor and Ian follows to watch his back. The Boom Chaka Laka’s crew is set to watch the outside of the house and Nathan begins an interior check of all the doors and windows.
The Professor gave Drake a rundown of several musicians that had been “retrieved” with manipulations:
June Carter- had a zipper on her head with apparent internal additions.
Bill Monroe- also had the zipper treatment.
Bessie Smith- was an apparent victim of genetic surgery.
She also informed him that Dick Clark had just been taken in Philadelphia. She had already dispatched several other teams to the Grand ole Opry, the Hollywood bowl, the Kennedy Center and Madison Square Garden. When Drake and Ian return they fill in Nathan and the decision is made to move the investigation to the studio in Philly come morning. The night passes uneventfully. When Billy wakes up, we let him know about Dick and ask him to go with us to Philly to check for clues. He agrees and we leave the Boom Boom crew to guard the perimeter.

When we arrive at the Studios in Philadelphia the place is in lockdown. The Security guard looks at Nathan’s NYPD badge and states, “You’re a little out of your Jurisdiction aren’t you?”
Nathan replies, “There is no jurisdiction when it comes to kidnappings of National importance. Our department has jurisdiction on everything that’s unexplained like these circumstances.”
“Oh, National Security. gotcha.” (I just love when people jump to conclusions.)“but why don’t you have federal badges?”
“Our office is in New York City. The investigation kinda morphed and dragged us here. The NYPD is a cover so we don’t arouse suspicion.”
Drake adds, “our Federal credentials are being couriered to us as Mr Joel’s now.”

The Guard gives us a tour of the damaged studio, it looks like godzilla tore through the room. He states that three employees were killed in the attack and describes the security team that help escort Mr Clark to safety. Drake recognises the description as Bureau Mill Agents and informs the rest of us. The guard shows us the area where they were last seen. he thinks it odd that this area was also where the creature was first spotted. there is a large blank wall. Nathan scans for magic but the arcano-wave tech is different enough that he can’t pinpoint anything. We ask to see all the New hires within the last few weeks. The guard says there are 7 surviving and one that was killed last night.

Thomas begins entertaining the Joel’s and some Studio exec’s with intricate small clockwork powered devices that he pulls from his carpet bag(that bag seems to have an endless supply of useful stuff for almost any occasion) while Ian and Kat look for clues in the wreckage.

When the new hires arrive Drake watches them as Nathan takes each one individually to a small office and “interrogates” them. Nathan tries to catch each one off guard as they start the interview and mindscan them with a sorcerous touch. Nathan subtly makes sure that each realises that he knows what they were thinking and what he discovers in the scan.(all the better to get truthful answers to the usual cop questions) One guy is so boring he is Red Flag level boring(could he be using sorcery to mask his thoughts?) after a reexamination Nathan determines that “No… his life really is just that boring?”(head-desk)

Drake and Kat reinvestigate the wall looking for anywhere the beacon might have been placed. Kat succeeds in Blinding herself with a spotlight that was partially unplugged and flashes her in the face as she moves it. Drake discovers something near the top of the wall that might have been where the beacon was stuck on the wall. Nathan confirms the energy signature and the decision is made to return to the Joel home.

On the ride back Billy suggests that we stop at the venue he will be playing on Saturday to do an inspection. when we arrive the security for the venue is very helpful. showing us the camera surveillance room and all the entrances and exits. Kat and Ian are sent to use their skills to identify any areas that could be potential non-conventional entrances or ambush points inside the arena and look for any tech that didn’t look like it belonged.
Nathan asked Thomas if he had a gadget that would help him disguise the fact that he was using magic to look for any energy signature matching the arcano-wave tech from Philadelphia. Thomas immediately pulls a strange device from his coat that looks like a cross between a star-trek scanner and a steampunk era divining rod.(damn that skill is useful) Nathan starts walking around the stage looking at the device(with no idea what it is or what it’s actually detecting) and uses sorcery to detect any trace of the energy. Nothing in the arena. However there is a faint signature coming from a few miles away. Nathan and Drake ask the supervisor for names and addresses of any new hires for the arena and an area map. looking at the map it dawns on us that the signature appears to be emanating from somewhere very near(or at) Billy Joel’s home………Damn. fade to black.